A Defining Time for Human Connection in Customer Service

I want you to think about a room of
first graders and a question you would
ask a room of first graders how many of
you want to grow up and be customer
service representatives exactly zero
more likely if you ask a group of first
graders this question they may answer
with something to the effect of I would
like to be able to do things to help
people I would like to be in a role
where I have purpose I want to grow up
and I want people that I can work with
and I can support them this is what I
want to be able to do see those two
scenarios are not very different both of
those groups have to show empathy both
of those groups have to be able to
connect and respect people both of those
groups have to be able to essentially
connect with human beings now I will
tell you customer service was not on my
roadmap either even though I spent my
career in customer service that's not
necessarily what I thought I was going
to do I was not destined to be a
customer service representative but
somehow I ended up in this path now I
want to tell you a little bit about
what's not in the screen right now
and I'm sure it will be get there now I
will tell you about the age of 13 I
started to show some traits and customer
service to things started to take shape
in my life technology and customer
service these two things were so
important now I'll tell you why because
when I was 13 I had just like a lot of
children that age a paper route and it
was really important when I delivered
those papers that the headline was
facing the customers door when they
opened it it was really important for me
on days that it was raining that the
newspaper would stay dry and then on
special occasions like holidays I would
put flowers on the newspaper and
sometimes a little note see that was
important to me and the reason why it
was important to me was because I
thought about those customers that lived
alone and what it might mean to them and
it actually started to make something
happen inside my heart now I'll tell you
at the exact same time I got my first PC
a Commodore 64 and some of you know what
I'm talking about yes I would program
for hours on end so I could play a
two-minute game and I was fascinated and
I was hooked and it was absolutely
amazing it was amazing for me that the
technology was just opening up a whole
new world for me that was amazing and it
was very amazing because this is not
something I ever thought I would go into
but I loved it those two areas
technology and customer service and
that's me
and I will tell you that fast forward a
few years and I was the first one of my
family to go to college and I got that
business degree and I remember thinking
I am gonna go out and make a difference
in this world I am gonna do something
incredible I'm not sure what but it's
gonna be big
and I remember that and I was so proud
and the first thing I started to do
let's go we're good ok first thing I
started to do was I worked a job and at
night I would teach word processing and
spreadsheets and I would teach computer
science I even thought a Windows class
for senior citizens and that was very
joyful and I will tell you I wanted to
be so connected to business and
technology and I started to see how it
was going to be an enabler and then one
of my very first jobs out of college was
this this is me now not destined to be a
customer service representative but
something happened I saw a job at an
amazing company and the job was very
specific the job was to help launch the
systems that were necessary for the
group to collect customer information
very technical for the time they were
called case management systems oh and by
the way this was the side gig answering
customer phone calls so I took the job
and the title was customer service
representative now let me tell you I
said to myself two years two years I'll
being this job then I'm gonna go to a
department that matters in the company
like marketing IT or digital engagement
see because customer service
representatives and aren't necessarily a
word or a title that you say without
saying it a little sheepish or at least
in my view and so I said this is what
I'll do I'm gonna move on and then
something happened two years turned into
20 and I'll tell you why so one day I
took a call from an elderly gentleman
and I worked at a quick service
restaurant and he said I'd like to know
if the restaurant
near my home would be open on the
upcoming Thursday so in those days we
hung up the phone I got on my directory
I found the phone number of the
restaurant I called the restaurant I
talked to the store manager I got the
hours I hung up the phone I picked up
the phone I call the customer and I
relay those particular hours to him
now I just want you to think about that
scenario 20 years ago right that almost
seems absurd today almost the point of
crazy because how many of you have a
smartphone or do not have a smartphone I
should ask how many do not have a
smartphone and very few hands will go up
because 90% of adults in the United
States today use the smartphone and an
Internet right we use this because we
are in a whole different state of
communication and this is important
because this has changed how we think
and how we work so I quickly went to
work and I quickly started to make a
difference so I believed in something
called contact optimization so with my
business skill and with my computer
skill I would look at all the reasons
why somebody would contact a company and
I would segment and I would say how many
could be self served now that technology
was evolving and how many of them could
potentially just be offloaded by the way
that we offer information and every time
I did this there was a little segment of
contacts and reasons for contact that
needed a human connection but I felt so
proud because I had figured out the
magic formula thank God I went to
business school because I know now how
to differentiate in business and I was
out telling the world here's a short
video that I was telling everyone how we
could succeed in business and there it
is okay in that video what I am saying
is this and I will say it because I
remember it because I was telling the
world
the asbestos things are moving in the
industry that we work in the only
differentiator sometimes comes down to a
couple of things great customer service
and innovation
the only differentiator some kind
sometimes comes down to two things great
customer service and innovation I had
figured this out and I was telling the
world and I was so excited about it
because I was putting in automation I
was driving advances technology was
moving fast and life was good it was
good for the customer but now I want to
take you back a little bit to that story
that I told you why did I stay in
customer service sometimes when I tell
this story it chokes me up a little bit
but when I got back on the phone with
that elderly gentleman and I said here's
the hours of operation on that Thursday
you know I was proud proud of my kpi's
proud of my average service time proud
of my accuracy I was a good customer
service rep and they told us this is
what we should work toward they told me
what was important so the elderly
gentleman said to me very quietly and a
little bit of sadness in his voice and
he said this is where I'm going to be
eating on Thanksgiving and we politely
ended the call see someone told me once
if something moves your heart then a
problem turns into a human and that's
what happened to me I stayed in customer
service because I love technology and I
started to love human beings and I
realized that not all companies were
doing this because our technology
advancement has been amazing but we have
now stagnated our human connection this
is the time that we need to be connected
more and we're actually void of human
connection this is what we need to work
together and on both sides of that phone
call are two human beings so a recent
CEO a few months ago said the most
profound thing and I loved it and what
he said was customers are in a need
state of convenience they're in a need
state of convenience so that means ease
transparency convenience
that's what customers are in a need
State it's
nice to have it's now a needs date but
what I so wanted to hear has is that
that was then being counterbalance with
a need state of human connection and I
didn't hear that and I'm not seeing that
I've been in this industry enough to
know that there are companies that are
making a difference see we do things
like this this was a few months ago this
is a 60 million dollar rocket went up to
space and it came back completely intact
and it landed and this particular rocket
can be reused because it didn't burn up
into entry now I want you to think for a
minute isn't that brave of a
civilization that we set the bar so high
and we're achieving it with technology
engineering innovation but are we doing
the same on the human side did we keep
up with it in the last 20 years
that's what I'd love to know have we
kept up with it and I don't think we are
I don't think we are because of a lot of
reasons see I've been in this business a
long time and I've have every role from
the CSR up to the executive level and I
can tell you we can operationalize
feedback we can make things better we
can make advances on your digital
devices like no tomorrow the automation
is amazing companies that are succeeding
today they can anticipate customer needs
right they can set expectation they can
do all of these amazing things they can
use business intelligence and predict
what you want but what have we not done
equally as well we have not humanized
the customer journey see I love to tell
you how many packages didn't get
delivered because I can tell you that I
can tell you very quickly also how many
credits didn't get posted but you know
what I can't tell you I can't tell you
why that gentleman was eating alone on
Thanksgiving and I should have known to
send him a handwritten note call the
store manager have him spent a few
it's on Thanksgiving with him or better
yet I could have spent a few minutes
with him that's never happened to me
again because I have changed my heart I
can also tell you that those credits
that didn't get posted but I cannot tell
you that maybe there's a student they
couldn't go visit a sick friend on
because he didn't have the bus fare in
his account I can't tell you that I
can't tell you that a package that
didn't get delivered has incredible
disappointment now from a father who
can't give his daughter the birthday
gift she promised because it didn't
arrive but I can tell you the package
didn't get there see that's what's
missing from the whole evolution of
customer service now I'm going to show
you something and I want you to look at
that this is the typical customer
service representative job description
let's take a look at this very
transactional in my mind listen to
customers questions and concerns provide
answers provide information about
products take orders calculate charges
process billing or payments review or
make changes to your account handle
returns record details of customer
contacts oh and by the way if it gets
really difficult escalate it to someone
else now I have to ask you do you think
that this was written for a job today in
customer service or 20 years ago this is
the same job description from both time
periods see we've evolved but we haven't
evolved on the human side and this is
where the opportunity is now I want to
show you something this is what I'm
doing with the companies that I work
with we drive transformation on the
human side why can't we hire and train
for this understand the customers story
solve in a way that makes sense to
recover the customer to the brand share
the customer feedback or insights to
help prevent similar customer issues how
about show empathy and care and I love
this statement offer kindness without
conditions see
is where we should be going we've
evolved on the technology side and I
love that and I've been part of it and
it makes me so happy to use these
devices and to see this advancement but
what I don't see is this connection and
I want to see that desperately why do I
remember that call from 20 years ago
because I don't even know where that man
is today but I want to know the story
and after that call with every customer
I connected with I started to know the
story and I started to teach people
around me and those and when I was a
leader to also learn the story but this
is our defining moment folks
this is it in customer service we are at
an inflection point and it's staring us
right in the face now there are three
million customer service representatives
in this country right now three million
these are brave frontline people that
answer phone calls emails chats text
messages social media and the National
Bureau of Labor says this is growing 5%
of a year see remember my contact
optimization I wasn't able to automate
everything something still needs a human
this is why we have three million and by
the way this doesn't include all the
people who have customer service as part
of their job but it's not the core
responsibility so these folks are
hard-working frontline folks and if you
train them and you elevate them you will
see a difference so conservatively
they're doing 200 million contacts a day
in this country a day now imagine if we
trained these folks for some of the
skill I showed you recently and imagine
what your experiences would be like
could we change the customer service
feeling in this country if we did that
and I know we can because I have driven
this transformation with companies I
work with leaders now and the reason why
they connect with me to help them is
because we heard it earlier today
perspective matters had I not had that
headset on and
not connected and had every level and
customer service I would never have
known what it feels like to have my seat
and a headset and what those agents are
going through and this is our
opportunity as leaders in this country
we have to take the charge and start
elevating the customer service group to
a department that matters it is a
department that matters just like IT and
marketing and digital engagement and
that's where we need to go so I'll leave
you with this if we do this right and
this is our opportunity in a few years
when we're sitting in a room of first
graders and we say who wants to be a
customer service representative we might
just see a few hands go up thank you
[Applause]